A friend once asked Joanne Rosener to volunteer with United Way. She  said yes and with that was launched into a variety of volunteer roles.

Her first experience began as the chair for the Methodist Hospital campaign. Joanne recalls, “I put my heart and soul into that campaign and enjoyed it. I learned a lot about my community and it gave me a deeper sense of belonging, having recently relocated to Rochester.”

Like so many leadership givers, Joanne began her donations when she contributed through payroll deduction. Joanne said “I have always felt it had far reaching impact.”

“It seems that I have always supported United Way because I felt it was a good thing. Instead of asking why give, I like to ask why not give?”

She appreciates that she has the ability and the opportunity to give – “We all have the capacity; if more people participated – even with just a little – we could meet more needs and serve more individuals and families.”

As an employee of the Mayo Clinic she appreciates the opportunity that Mayo provides for participation.

Over the years, Joanne’s involvement has included the Mayo Employee campaign and she now serves as the 2009 United Way Campaign Vice-Chair. “Historically, I have been involved in CEO calls, as an account manager, allocation panels and in the campaign cabinet for the past couple of campaigns. It has increased my appreciation for the process and confidence that there is community investment in what United Way does. I understand the move to community impact and feel it is effective in serving the most important needs of the community.”

Joanne’s road of involvement has led her to the Women’s Leadership Council. “Women tend to be more connected to the needs in a family. We seem to be in a position for identifying needs since we usually have the role of caregiver for children and parents,” observed Joanne.

Joanne’s career has spanned 20 years as a registered dietician and 15 years in Human Resources in HRIS. Very active in Rotary, she and husband Dick have participated in a number of international Rotary trips to such places as India and South Africa to provide children with polio vaccine.

“We help others out of need and without pay or expectations of something in return.” says Joanne. “But, it’s serendipitous. We often are richly compensated by what we gain from the experience, often learning life lessons that we can carry and give to others. It’s frosting on the cake.”

United Way of Olmsted County and the Women’s Leadership Council benefit immensely from Joanne’s talents and volunteering.